


The Pet Collection

by Dragonfire2lm



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, I had the idea of RHM owning an Australian Cattle Dog and ran with it, Plan what plan?, Pre-Series, The characters have pets, The facility looking after their pets is neutral territory, This fic is evolving as I go, so everyone plays nice for the sake of the animals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29147721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonfire2lm/pseuds/Dragonfire2lm
Summary: Pets.Trusted companions, beloved family members, and man's best friend. But people often have busy lives and can't always look after their animal friends, and that's where The Pet Collection comes in.Whether you're in the army stationed abroad, a world renowned criminal, or a lowly prisoner, our pet care facility and top of the line staff will ensure that your furry, feathered or scaled friend will be given the best care and treatment in the world. And if you happen to meet an untimely demise, our no-kill shelter will find your pet a brand new forever home.The Henry Stickmin characters have pets, this is the story of the woman in charge of the facility responsible for looking after them and the craziness she gets roped into.
Relationships: Right Hand Man/Original Female Character
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. Give a Dog a Bone

**Author's Note:**

> I'm fairly new to this fandom and A03, plus I just recently got a laptop so now I can write whatever I want. I've been writing fanfiction for nearly a decade and, in order to get used to writing on my new laptop, I decided to write this before working away at the myriad of other Henry Stickmin fanfic ideas I have.
> 
> This is also my first A03 post, I have no clue how to use this site, but I'm trying my best.

The hot summer sun glinted off the pristine, brown bricked building as the roar of a motorbike thundered down the street. The vehicle rumbled to a stop as the driver parked in one of the few free spaces outside the building. 

A wide brimmed, dusty brown hat kept the sun out of the man’s face as he dismounted and brushed the dust off his gray jeans and the shoulders of his off-white button up shirt. He looked over at the sidecar of his bike and whistled. An Australian Cattle Dog with a red bandana tied around its neck bounded out of the sidecar to follow its master inside the building, the large red sign above the automatic double doors reading _The Pet Collection._

The man’s bushy red moustache twitched as he smirked at his dog’s enthusiasm. His boots thumped against wooden flooring as he sidestepped a kitten chasing a ball, and the small litter of puppies invested in play fighting one another and rolling around on the floor. The room was a cacophony of noise from the various cats, dogs and birds the facility took care of.

His dog had already raced off into the fray.

The room was rather large and built to cater more to the animals than their owners as was evident by the large play area filled with toys, obstacles, cat towers, pathways built into the walls, and a separate caged off space for birds with plenty of room for them to stretch their wings. cat and dog doors were installed into every door he could see and there were several staff members milling about to keep an eye on the more rambunctious animals while older pets relaxed on the many pillows, cushions, and pet beds scattered around the room.

In comparison, there was a small reception desk and a few chairs tucked away into the furthest corner of the room.

He sighed as he trudged over to reception, the woman behind the counter smiled in understanding.

“Another mission Mr. Wright?” she asked, and he shrugged.

“Somethin’ like that, gonna be away for ‘bout a month, could be longer.” he replied.

The receptionist nodded as she turned to the side to pull something up on her computer. “Anything new regarding Boomer’s health?”

“Nah, ‘e’s up to date on ‘is shots and medication.”

While the cattle dog’s owner signed him in, the dog had spotted a familiar feline happily dozing in a patch of sunlight that streamed in from a window. The brown and white ragdoll cat warily narrowed its eyes at the canine for a moment, the dog, undeterred, sat down next to it, and after a seconds, the cat relaxed and paid little mind to the cattle dog that was now keeping watch.

“Oi Boomer,” the dog’s owner called out and the dog looked over at him, on his way out the door. “Behave, an’ keep Duchess out of trouble.”

Boomer barked an affirmative as the ragdoll, _Duchess_ , looked as offended as a cat could manage. The human noticed and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t give me that, you’re as bad as Reg…”

With a lazy wave to his dog, the man known as Right Hand Man exited the building.

* * *

The office of the head of the facility was owned by a woman in her late twenties with long orange hair tied back in a low ponytail that curled at the ends. Despite the simple t-short and gray shorts she wore, she gave off an air of authority and calm as she scanned the paperwork in her hands. A fan droned noisily in the corner of the room, offering respite in the sweltering summer heat.

A knock sounded at the door, She looked up, and pushed her glasses back up from where they slid down as she set her paperwork aside.

“Come in.” she called out and glanced over at the open window right next to her. She patted the neck of the white stallion that had poked his head into the room to watch her, the view behind the equine was of the vast open field that had at the back of the building, and solely reserved for larger animals like horses and livestock.

The door opened and the familiar sight of Captain Galeforce stepped inside her rather sparse office. A man dressed in an orange shirt, brown shorts and a pair of orange headphones hanging around his neck, cradling a chocolate brown labradoodle in his arms trailed behind the captain.

She blinked in confusion, it was rare for anyone to venture into the employees only section, let alone her office. She set her pen down beside the form she was filling out.

“What can I do for you Captain?” she asked.

“Ma’am, we’ve received word that a Toppat was sighted here recently.” Galeforce said respectfully.

She made her disapproval known with a frown. ”You know our policy Captain, as long as no laws are broken on our property, anyone may book a place for their animals.”

The horse nickered in agreement.

At her unimpressed look, the other person in the room spoke up. “I’m uh, just here to book my parents dog in…”

She blinked and opened a desk draw to pull out the necessary forms. “Take a seat sir, and fill these out to the best of your ability.”

The labradoodle was gently set down on the wooden floor of her office, the dog using the opportunity to investigate every new smell it was no doubt detecting, and its owner slid into one of the empty chairs in front of her desk and accepted the offered paperwork.

“Huh.” he commented.

“Something wrong?” she asked plainly.

“Nah, just never seen paperwork with clear instructions before.” he said and grabbed a pen from the dark blue mug on her desk.

“About that intel-” Galeforce interjected.

“I’m with a client Captain.” she said calmly.

“Miss Meadows, this is a matter of international security.”

“Uh, who do I put down as the client?” the young man asked.

“Since you’re currently responsible for the animal in question, it would be best to use your contact info on the off chance something does go wrong,” Meadows replied and looked at Galeforce. “My facility’s policy is final, sir. Please keep that in mind the next time you try to use your soldiers against me and my organization.”

Galeforce sighed. “...Fine, Charles, I’ll meet you out front.”

Charles looked up from where he was working on the form. “Okay, sure thing sir.”

“So…” Charles began as Galeforce briskly left the room. “Why do you have that policy anyway?”

She blinked. “Because animals shouldn’t be rejected, neglected or abused even if their owners are not exactly the best people. They’re living things, not objects.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So you’ll look after Pudding?” he asked as the dog in question looked up at the mention of his name briefly before continuing his circuit of the sparse office.

“If you’re that concerned, I can look after him personally. If a pet happens to get along with certain members of staff, owners can request those people to look after the animal in subsequent bookings.” she offered.

He beamed at her. “That’d be great!”

“When you’re done filing that out, take the papers to reception and mention Lillian Meadows is looking after him,” she replied. “I do enough work around the joint that taking on clients myself isn’t unusual.”

“Cool.”

* * *

With a leash clipped to the labradoodles collar, Lillian made sure she was walking at a pace the small dog could match as she led him down the hall towards reception. She passed through the double doors that led out into the public space and stepped off to the side to remove the leash from the dog.

Pudding looked around and with a bark, ran over to where three other toy dogs were playing with a squeaky toy, claws scrabbling on the wooden floor. Lillian walked over to reception and took a seat on one of the nearby chairs.

A cattle dog padded over to her and rested his head in her lap.

“Hello Boomer.” she chuckled and ran a hand through his fur. When she felt something weave through her legs, she looked over the side of her chair to see a brown and white ragdoll cat staking its claim on her legs.

She grunted as she leaned over further to pick up the feline, the cat going limp in her arms and allowing her to carefully hold it in her arms like a baby. “Hello Duchess, did you miss me?”

The cat mewled at her.

“Your owner is going to kill me,” she spoke to the cat as Boomer settled for lying at her feet. “Not _really_ , but he’s not going to be happy when he hears Galeforce is snooping around.”

She heaved out a sigh as she placed the animal in her lap. “I dunno what else I can do, Terrence is breathing down my neck to open up staff positions to the clan, the government is being nosy, an’ with the way my health is I don’t need the stress.”

Duchess meowed and began purring, pressing up against Lillian as she rested a hand on the cat's back.

“I’ll ask the guys what they think when we meet up next.” she decided and relaxed, watching Pudding while the two other animals kept her company.


	2. Nine Lives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day on the job brings another set of surprises, and some familiar faces.

Pudding proved to be a run-of-the-mill case. Lillian arrived at work, headed to the lower floors to ensure Pudding had his morning meal, and escorted him to the playroom by Reception. The dog was as well behaved as any household pet she’d worked with over the years.

As the labradoodle ran around the room, the head of the facility sat behind the reception desk while the actual receptionist did some filing work behind her.

“Thanks again for covering for me, with the number of clients we get I just haven’t had the time to sort through this mess,” the older woman looked over her shoulder at Lillian with a knowing smile. “Duchess’ owner is picking her up today.”

Lillian shrugged as she lazed in the rather comfy office chair. “And?”

“Well, Burt was saying some interesting things the other day.”

Lillian snorted. “Oh my God….” She rolled her eyes. “Sarah, what’d he say?”

“That you and Mister Copperbottom were more than friends, so to speak.”

Lillian blinked and burst out laughing. Cackling as Sarah looked surprised.

“Holy…Oh Reg is gonna love that, _snrk_ , nah…” Lillian replied, giggling. She had trouble keeping a straight face. “Absolutely not… Good God how would that even work?”

“So it’s not true?” Sarah asked. “You two seem awfully close.”

“Eh, I knew him before I worked here, we kept in touch.” She offhandedly explained.

There was a crackle from the small black communicator clipped to Lillian’s pants. She grabbed the device and pressed a button on the side.

“ _Um… The ferret got out again._ ” She heard a familiar voice, Sven Svenson, say.

“Lock down the floor and sweep the area, keep all valuables concealed.” She ordered as she rose from her seat and waved goodbye to Sarah.

She headed down the hall at a brisk pace and walked into a room labelled _Security_. The room had a wall covered in monitors and sitting in front of them, a dark grey hoodie hanging off the back of his chair, was the head of security.

“Burt,” she said politely, the man turning around and sliding his dark orange headphones off his head to hang around his neck. He looked tired, not unusual for him.

“Hey, one of the newbies didn’t follow instructions, the ferret got out.” He said in a tired tone that could almost be mistaken for monotone.

“I figured…” she sighed. “So, what’s with the rumours?”

“Oh, that, thought you might find it funny. You’ve been stressed lately.” Burt replied. “The rest of the senior staff was getting worried.”

“Oh I found it hilarious,” Lillian replied brightly. “Could you not spread stuff like that though? It could put us in danger.”

“Yeah, alright.”

“Cool,” Lillian said as they watched the security feed from the underground portion of the facility as a group of people chased a ferret around one of the enclosure rooms.

The animal was quite intelligent as it gave staff the run-around and snagged a sandwich from an unsuspecting worker on his lunch break.

“I should head down there…” Lillian mused, and Burt held up a hand.

“Wait for it…”

Something had happened out of view, people became more organised, and worked together to herd the animal into a corner. Lillian smiled softly as Sven walked onscreen and deftly snatched up the escaped animal.

“Looks like they got it handled.” she commented.

“Yeah.” Burt replied as the escaped pet was placed in a small pet carrier for the moment.

* * *

The rest of her workday passed without incident. She sat at her desk reading over the incident report from Jewel the ferret’s escape attempt. The simple busywork proved to be a suitable distraction from the weariness that clung to her mind life a fog, and the worry that coiled in her gut. She pulled from her work at the sound of the cat flap built into her office door moving as Duchess strolled into the toom and leapt into her lap, curling up on the pillow the woman used to keep herself from hunching over.

The feline’s owner walked in not long after. Reginald Copperbottom sauntered in as if he owned the place and effortlessly slid into one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Lillian simply blinked at him. “Hey Reg.”

His grey top hat was absent, for obvious reasons, he was also in business casual attire and the man smirked at the sight of his cat happily purring up a storm atop the pillow that the woman used to keep her pinned to her seat.

“I see Duchess is rather pleased,” he said, amused. The moment did not last as a more serious expression overtook his features. “I wish I were here under better circumstances but… Orders are orders.”

“What does Terrence want this time?” she sighed.

In response, Reginald dropped a USB stick onto her desk, grim and his voice resigned as he explained. “This contains information on various members of the airship division that are linger fit for field work. He wants you to give them a job here as part of a new division.”

She blinked curiously as she fired up her laptop and plugged the device in. A cursory glance at the number of individual files stored on the device gave her pause. She pulled out a spare piece of paper and pen and quickly scrawled out a bit of math.

“That’s over half of the crew…Geez, even _Slice_ ,” She realized as she read the names on the collection of documents. “Wright didn’t tell me it’d gotten this bad.”

“He didn’t want to worry you, given the threats Terrence was making. The _Chief_ is still rather upset you convinced the entire Civilian Division to walk out on the clan.”

Lillian was not pleased by the reminder. “He wanted fighters, my people aren’t fighters, _I’m_ not a fighter…”

“We need to do something before the clan goes up in smoke.” Reginald stated and his words gave her pause.

“Excuse me, _we_?”

“When you left, you told me that Terrence needs to be removed from power, you were right, you are right,” Reginald replied seriously. “But I don’t want to risk anyone else in doing so.”

“You want me to help? _How_?”

“Allow Wright and I to work here alongside the people listed here, we can use this chance to plan a coup against Terrence!”

“No, it’s not just the Civilian Division working here Reg, plenty of regular people work here too,” she argued. “Say you overthrow Terrence, then what? Who leads the clan out the dumpster fire he’s left it in?”

“I will.” Reginald vowed.

She looked at him, she could see the depths of his loyalty to the clan, the respect he had for his fellow clanmates, and the worry he carried on his shoulders. Her mind was whirring, ideas forming, and she looked at him with a renewed sense of determination.

Despite this, she still stood by her decision.

“I’m still not endangering my staff, but you can bring anyone who supports you to the meet-up at my place on Saturday to discuss things there.” She replied calmly.

He nodded, looking somewhat relieved. “Thank you, Lillian.”

She smirked. “Don’t thank me yet, we still gotta get out of this mess unscathed,” they both shared a wry smile and hers twisted into something sad. “Even if you take him out, I don’t think I’d be allowed back in.”

At his confusion, she gestured at the armchair she sat in. She had a pillow supporting her back and the boomerang pillow in her lap. “Look at me Reg, I’m not well…”

“And we both know Wright won’t be pleased unless you’re either in a secure location or back in the clan.” Reginald countered.

“I still have those plans for an Agriculture Division, could be something to look into once this mess is sorted…” she reasoned.

“So you’ll consider returning?” he asked, smug.

“I’ll think about it once I know Terrence won’t be a threat to me or the people under my care,” She replied and lifted Duchess off her. “You’ll be on the ground for a while then?”

He bundled the cat into his arms, the ragdoll not caring in the slightest. “My orders are to convince you to agree to Terrence’s _generous_ offer. He doesn’t care how as long as job is done.”

“Just try not to disturb the staff,” she said and steered the conversation to other topics. “You would not believe what Burt was telling the rest of the staff today, it’s friggin’ hilarious…”

* * *

“ _Hey Blue, you said to let me know when Jewel’s owner showed up?”_ Burt’s voice came through on her communicator.

She looked over to the camera mounted in the corner of her office, offered a thumbs up, and gathered up the necessary paperwork.

“ _He’s waiting at reception for you.”_

With the proper papers in hand, she headed to the front desk. Waiting off to the side was a man in his early twenties dressed in a navy-blue t-shirt, black shorts and a pair of scuffed brown boots.

“Mister Stickmin?” she asked, and he looked over at her, nodding. She handed him the paperwork as she introduced herself. “I’m Lillian Meadows, the Manager of _The Pet Collection_ and _this_ is your final warning.”

She was calm as she elaborated. “Your ferret has escaped her enclosure three times this month, I advise you to either train her to respond positively to being in her cage or find better ways to keep her safely in her cage,” To his credit, the ferret’s owner rather sheepish. “Due to the vast variety of animals we tend to here, Jewel could risk getting hurt or worse if she finds her way into an area she shouldn’t be in.”

At his concern, she pointed at the paperwork.

“I’ve included the recommendations from our staff as well as my own observations, should this happen again, your animal will be put on our blacklist and banned from the facility.”

He nodded, taking a seat in one of the chairs by reception and reading over the paperwork.

“Have a nice afternoon Mister Stickmin.” Lillian said and returned to her office for the last few hours of her shift.

* * *

With her satchel slung over her left shoulder, she arrived home to see a familiar motorbike parked in her driveway, and walked into her simple home to find a pair of boots by the door and a wide-brimmed black top hat hanging on the coatrack.

“Hey,” she called out cautiously, she wouldn’t put it past Terrence to try something in her own home.

A familiar face with a scruffy orange moustache poked his head out from the kitchen that was just past the entryway. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and it looked like he was in the middle of something.

She walked past as he nodded, heading through the lounge room into her bedroom. A bed was up against the back wall, a wardrobe to her right by the door, and a desk to her left.

Hanging off the bedpost was sapphire blue top hat with a lily on it.

She kicked her sneakers off, hung her satchel off her bedpost, and changed into a baggy t-shirt and a pair of shorts, tossing her work set of clothes on top of her desk chair.

“If I knew you were dropping by, I’d have brought Boomer with me.” She commented as she walked back into the lounge. “I thought you’d be gone for a month. It’s only been a week.”

Her houseguest shrugged as she walked into the modest kitchen. “Pawned the work off onto Reg, you know I don’ do recruitment duty.”

“That’s only because he’s better at it.” She replied.

“I still got you to join back then.” He said.

“Because I’m me and a complete dumbarse,” She pointed out. “What’re you doing?”

“Found that carrot cake mix you like… Was gonna surprise you.” He admitted quietly.

“Awesome, I don’t have to buy any this week, thanks!”

She smiled as he watched him work. A calm, comforting silence fell between them.

A few minutes passed before Lillian spoke up. “Hey Wright?”

“Hm?”

“You’re awesome, you know that?”

“An’ you’re cute.” He replied easily.

A blink. “If you say so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if it wasn't obvious, I am making this up as I go with a very rough idea of where it's headed. Thank you to the few people who are interested though!
> 
> My notes when I was planning out this chapter were just the major story beats of Henry's ferret getting loose and Reginald showing up, that was it. Everything else you see was done on the fly during writing. I wasn't even sure about the ending scene, but it fits, and I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Sarah is just a background character, though i imagine she'd be similar to Sarah-Jane Smith from Doctor Who.
> 
> Reginald and RHM are my two favourite characters, so you'll be seeing them a lot. I do have a backstory for Lillian in mind to maybe show later, but I dunno, I don't really write flashbacks in my stories.
> 
> A shame I can't draw, this fic would make a fun Ask Blog (I do have a tumblr though, just go to tumblr and do a search for Dragonfire2lm), I guess I could always do an Ask Blog/Fanfiction hybrid thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Right Hand Man is wearing a different hat as part of a civilian disguise. Top hats are so closely associated with the Toppats that anyone seen wearing one in public is assumed to either be one, a Toppat supporter, or insanely rich to the point that they don't care what other people think.
> 
> Edit: Fixed a few typos and modified the formatting a bit to hopefully have it read better.
> 
> I'm not sure where this fic will be headed, or what the overall story is, but this is just for fun anyway.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading and feel free to leave a comment.


End file.
